


the highest journey

by tootsonnewts



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galaxy Garrison, M/M, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Kerberos Mission, he just wants to impress his crush, kinda bittersweet ending?, low key pining keith, matt is sick of shiro's entire shit, shiro's just out here being thirsty y'all, sorry 'bout it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:50:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tootsonnewts/pseuds/tootsonnewts
Summary: It takes Shiro approximately three days, sixteen hours, and forty-five minutes (give or take) to notice him for the very first time when the year starts back up at the Garrison. He’s just sat down with his tray of genetically enhanced…green beans (maybe?) when he looks across the mess hall at the table of new recruits. His eyes land on a thin boy with a mop of black hair on top of his head, and the first thing he can remember thinking isWow. A mullet is a definite statement.Or, that time Shiro met Keith and it destroyed him forever.





	the highest journey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [otasucc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/otasucc/gifts).



> happy birthday, lia!!!!
> 
> title taken from [this m83 song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InP5AO6W348).
> 
> also, huge shout-out to [elle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanekki/pseuds/kanekki) for giving this a beta read for me! please go check her out, everything she writes is awesome!

It takes Shiro approximately three days, sixteen hours, and forty-five minutes (give or take) to notice him for the very first time when the year starts back up at the Garrison. He’s just sat down with his tray of genetically enhanced…green beans (maybe?) when he looks across the mess hall at the table of new recruits. His eyes land on a thin boy with a mop of black hair on top of his head, and the first thing he can remember thinking is _Wow. A mullet is a definite statement._

But then, the boy looks up and time slows down like it does in those cheesy romance movies he used to watch with his sisters back home. He remembers this one version of Romeo + Juliet he saw once where the first time the main characters see each other, it’s through opposite sides of a fish tank. Here, he’s Romeo, enthralled and entranced, and the boy is Juliet, beautiful and serene. The other people milling about the room are the fish and coral obstructing his view, only it would be much too obvious to swim the distance here.

An elbow jabbing into his side makes him break eye contact with the other cadet, losing him in the crowd, and when he looks over, Matt is smirking up at him with a mouth full of food.

“See anything that looks promising over there?”

Shiro coughs and clears his throat, hand shooting up to rub at the back of his neck nervously, “Ahh, no not really. When did the new ones arrive?”

“Hmmm,” Matt says, eyeing him suspiciously, “About four days ago? That one came in later, though.”

Shiro fidgets in his seat at the callout and drops his eyes to his tray. He can feel the blush spreading across his face, but it’s too late to do anything about it now, except for pray that Matt’s the only one who sees. He tries to think up some excuse for why he was staring, but Matt ignores him and just keeps chatting.

“His name’s Keith Kogane. They say his sim scores rival yours, y’know. I’m surprised you didn’t already know who he was, actually. Apparently, he’s quite the sight behind the controls. His entrance exam was supposed to have been phenomenal.”

Now it’s Shiro’s turn to hmmm noncommittally while he shovels more…definitely not green beans (could be weird okra?) into his mouth.

“He’s very pretty, though, isn’t he?”

Shiro sprays the table with whatever the hell it is he’s just bitten into.

 

+++

 

When Shiro finally approaches Keith a week later, though, things don’t go quite as he hopes.

He has a Saturday off, so after lazing around his room reading for a couple hours, he finally drags himself out of bed to go return a stack of books he’d been working his way through since last term. Since he’s become pretty well known around the school (a side effect of being good at anything in the place, really), he’s developed the pattern of scanning every room he enters just in case he needs to brace himself for unexpected social interaction. It’s not like he doesn’t enjoy it, it’s just that after too much of it he gets tired. People are interesting, but they’re also draining in large doses.

He follows his usual pattern, sweeping his gaze over the tables, but he stops short when he catches sight of the most interesting person he can imagine happening upon. The familiar black mess of hair catches his attention and draws him over like a magnet before he even realizes what he’s doing. He barely registers dropping his books in the return slot on his way past.

“Excuse me, cadet,” he says, laying a hand on a thin shoulder, “I wanted to introduce myself”.

Keith looks up from his book and his eyes land on Shiro’s hand before sliding up to his face and widening incrementally. He shakes his shoulder to rid it of the foreign touch, and Shiro cringes at himself for invading another person’s space like that.  Keith turns a little pink under his gaze, and he realizes he’s just been standing, silently gawking, for who knows how long. Probably a minute, but maybe an hour.

Clearing his throat, he continues, “I’m uh, Takashi. Shirogane. Everyone calls me Shiro, though.”

Keith snaps his book shut and picks it up, sliding it in his book bag, “I’m aware.”

“Oh. Great! Listen, we kinda have a tradition at the Garrison. A senior chooses a junior to take under their wing for their first year, because you know, you need a good influence, of course, and a senior cadet would obviously be the best choice. So. Here I am?”

Keith is still packing his things, but he doesn’t look away from Shiro’s face for even a second, and it’s unnerving, but kind of thrilling, and Shiro isn’t entirely sure how to process this experience. He’s so busy drowning in his fish tank of emotions that he doesn’t even notice Keith stand to leave until he’s brushing past him.

“Nah, I’m good.”

 

+++

 

The next Thursday, Shiro and a few other seniors stroll into the gym to run through their weekly ritual weight conditioning. There’s a junior class already inside working on some cardio exercises, and while Shiro throws some weights on a bar, he looks up just in time to see Keith walk up to the starting line of the track alongside a few of the other juniors. He’s decked out in a t-shirt and running shorts that look like they came straight from a fashion magazine in the 1970’s. All Shiro can see is leg and leg and leg, and he finally has to drop his gaze and gulp in a few breaths after he realizes his lungs stopped working there for second.

As he stares at the floor and contemplates putting his head between his knees to stop the black spots suddenly swimming in his vision, he hears a whistle blow and looks up just in time to see Keith lunge forward, looking determined and leaving his classmates to trail behind him. For a brief moment, Shiro considers what it would be like to be trampled under those feet.

Shaking his head and glaring at himself for letting his thoughts wander so wildly into left field, Shiro takes his position under the barbell and gets to work on his chest presses. The problem is the weight benches are positioned toward the edge of the center of the track, so you can hear people running by and catch the sight of their calves as they zip past.

Naturally, this means Shiro can hear _Keith_ running by and catch the sight of _his_ calves pumping him along, all toned and powerful. Another problem is Shiro is but a man. He tries to be kind and humble and all that jazz, but he still kind of can’t help peacocking a little bit in the face of a selfish goal. He thinks it should be understandable. The Garrison is full of hormonal Type-A people just out to prove themselves. The slip is allowable, right?

So every time Keith passes by, Shiro makes just a little bit of an extra effort to push the bar out to full extension, grunting just a little bit more than he ever usually would. Yet another problem is that Keith doesn’t even notice. If he does, he doesn’t acknowledge it anyway. If anything, he speeds up a little each time he passes by. Shiro can’t stand it.

He racks the bar and sits up on his bench, grabbing a towel to wipe away his sweat. When he tosses it to the side, his spotter, Jules, knocks her knuckles against his head.

“I bet you could take him.”

“What?”

“Kogane,” she gestures at the boy laughing and chatting with a couple other cadets, “I bet you could take him. You’re the fastest on the track I’ve ever met.”

Shiro chuckles, “I dunno about all that. Did you watch him around that circuit?”

“Not as much as you did.”

Shiro blushes down to his chest, and he can feel it burning through his tank top. Jules smirks like a cat that caught a canary and nudges him with her knee.

“I promise not to say anything if you go race him right now. You should try to be more subtle if you don’t want people to know, though.”

Under the threat of emotional pain (that’s the _only_ reason, he tells himself), Shiro stands and makes his way over to the small huddle, waiting until they notice him standing there. One of the kids lets out a squeak when they realize who he is, and the other immediately focuses on what seems to be a very interesting spot of wall, but Keith just looks on blandly at his face and asks, “Can we help you?”

It’s almost unnerving how Keith never seems shaken by Shiro’s appearance or presence. He hasn’t encountered anyone like that since his first year at the Garrison, and it’s so nice. It’s refreshing to have someone not give a shit who he is for once. It’s also kind of frustrating. The one time he wants to use it to his advantage, it doesn’t matter. Life is a cruel mistress.

Keith clears his throat, snapping Shiro out of it. The unfortunate side effect of this is that he finds himself blurting out words before he can put them together in his brain.

“A RACE. I would like a race. One race, please.”

Keith’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. Shiro wants to die.

“I uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not, cadet? Afraid of a little competition?”

Now Shiro wants to punch himself in the face. He seems to only be able to access two settings around Keith: stuttering mess, and overzealous asshole. Great.

“Afraid I’ll embarrass you, actually.”

Keith smirks up at him, and Shiro’s frontal lobe goes all gooey.

“You’re on, cadet.”

“ _You’re_ the one who challenged _me_. You just remember that.”

Jules and a few other classmates from both classes gather around the starting line as Keith and Shiro take their places.

“Alright, boys!” Jules shouts above the crowd, “One full lap, whoever crosses the line first is the winner!”

They nod their agreement, Jules puts a whistle between her teeth, and the crowd hushes.

“3…2…1…,” the whistle blows and they take off.

Roughly ten seconds into the challenge, Shiro realizes what a horrible, horrible mistake he’s made. Keith is already rounding the first bend when Shiro’s halfway to it, and where the hell does this kid get his speed from? Is he half rabbit?

Shiro is three-quarters of the way around the track when Keith finishes his lap, and to add insult to injury, he doesn’t even stop. Keith keeps jogging straight into the locker room. He barely tosses a little wave over his shoulder as he goes and Shiro’s ego crumbles just a tiny bit more.

 

+++

 

Turns out, Keith is good at chess. Like, really good. Like, exceptionally good. Like, he garners the nickname ‘Garrison Grandmaster’ good. Everyone who plays him loses in a major way. Every challenger falls at his feet in a matter of minutes. His reputation gets around, and people speak of it in awe. No kidding, Shiro walked into the stacks one day to find an engine repair manual, and he heard people _whispering about it_.

Here’s the thing, though: Shiro grew up playing chess with his grandmother and parents. They taught him some tricks. He wouldn’t claim to be the best, but he knows he’s pretty damn good. He knows a good opportunity when he sees one, and boy does he ever see one.

On a winter afternoon, Shiro spots Keith in line at the mess hall and makes his way over.

“Keith!”

Keith’s body locks up for a brief second and then relaxes. He turns his head, looking at Shiro from the corner of his eye.

“Shirogane.”

Nobody but instructors refer to him so formally, so that sucks, but he’s got a goal here so he presses onward.

“I hear you’re a whiz with chess.”

Keith snorts softly, “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“More than okay, if I hear correctly.”

“What do you want?”

“A challenge.”

“Like our race? You sure you wanna do that?”

Keith really knows how to go for the soft spots. That sucks, too. But Keith doesn’t know Shiro’s background with chess. This time, he’s holding all the cards. Pieces? Whatever.

Shiro gives him a sharp smile, “Positive.”

“Fine. Meet me in the rec room at 0600.”

“Done!”

Keith kicks his ass. He doesn’t just kick his ass – he kicks it, picks it up to check for damage, and then kicks it again to ensure that there _is_ damage. He wins in four moves. FOUR MOVES. Shiro’s never lost so badly in his life. It’s humiliating.

“There’s no way you should have beat me,” Shiro groans through a frown, hand over his eyes.

“I did say I was pretty good.”

Shiro peeks through his fingers at the smug face across the table.

“No. You said you were okay.”

“I guess I did.”

Keith is smiling at him now. Not smiling in the kind of way that tells Shiro that Keith knows he’s caught him up again, but in the kind of way that says he’s truly enjoying himself. It’s a really good smile.

“You know,” Keith says, “instead of trying to impress me all the time, you could just ask to be my friend like normal people do.”

Well shit.

“You, uh, you wanna be friends?”

“That depends. Do I get to keep kicking your ass at everything ever?”

Shiro can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of his chest when he answers, “It doesn’t really seem like I have a choice on that.”

“Then yes I do.”

 

+++

 

Now that they’ve established their friendship, Keith is much more open with Shiro. He’s sharp and witty and fiercely loyal. He remembers the smallest details about conversations they have, but tends to forget the names of people he shares daily classes with. It’s a little enigmatic and Shiro adores it.

They start studying together a lot more (it’s really unnecessary, Keith turns out to be just as brilliant as everyone says), and Keith even challenges Shiro to random games of chess when the mood strikes.

One day in the spring, Shiro beats him. It’s only by one move, but Shiro. beats Keith. at chess. He’s immediately suspicious. Shiro knows intimately just how good Keith is. He shouldn’t be able to beat him. Not yet, anyway.

Keith is sitting silently on his side of the board with his hands folded under his chin, and Shiro raises an eyebrow.

“You let me win, didn’t you?”

Keith narrows his eyes and drops his hands, “Shiro, you know I don’t do shit like that. You won fair and square.”

That sounds like a lie, but okay.

He’s still stewing on it when Keith starts talking again, “Hey, so I was thinking.”

“That’s never good.”

“Very funny.”

Shiro smiles at him, “What were you thinking?”

“So, I do this thing every now and again, and I thought maybe you’d want to start doing it with me?”

“This sounds like it’s going to get me in trouble.”

“I mean, it could? But I’ve never been caught, so I think we’re pretty safe.”

“What is it, then?”

“Sometimes, I like to go up to the roof to study at night. It’s really nice. It lets me get out of the walls when they feel too small, you know? Anyway, I thought since we’re friends now, and I know how much pressure you’re under all the time, you might like to come too.”

Keith takes in a deep breath. It’s the most Shiro can remember him saying in one go in the entire time they’ve known each other. It’s also the kindest offer Shiro’s received in quite some time. It makes him feel like a human, rather than the prize winning show bull the academy often presents him as. He doesn’t realize he hasn’t reacted at all until Keith flushes and looks away.

“I mean, you don’t _have_ to, you know? I just thought it might be a good distraction? You know what, it’s dumb, nevermind.”

“No! No, I’d love to. It sounds really nice.”

It does. It sounds extremely nice. Shiro kind of wants to go right now. Keith looks back at him and smiles the good smile. The smile Shiro likes the most.

“Cool. I thought maybe we could do some sparring up there, too? We never have, and you have some moves I’d like to learn some time.”

Shiro has some moves he’d like to teach some time.

“That sounds great,” he says with a smile of his own.

 

+++

 

The next Tuesday, they meet on the roof and get right to it. Literally. Shiro opens the door and doesn’t even get to look around before he finds a foot flying at his face. He catches it and looks over the body the foot is connected to until he reaches Keith’s face. He’s smiling and already sweating a little bit, and something about the way his eyes glimmer violet under the moon and stars sets Shiro’s insides alight, all neon-like and sparkling. He laughs and throws the foot down, tossing his bag and taking position.

He settles into a crouch, Keith doing the same, and accuses, “You could have at least let me drop my stuff.”

“Element of surprise,” Keith huffs out and throws a punch.

Shiro redirects it easily, and lands a jab in his side, throwing him back. Keith lets out a genuine peal of laughter and drops his body low, sweeping Shiro’s legs. Shiro can’t jump fast enough, though, and finds himself with his back on the ground and Keith’s face hovering over him, blotting out the sky.

“Point,” Keith smirks, holding his hand out for Shiro.

“Point,” Shiro agrees, grasping his arm to be pulled up into a seated position.

The next Tuesday, and every Tuesday after that, they meet on the roof at 2300 to spar. It’s the best two hours of Shiro’s week.

There are days when they catch up but they’re both too tired to spar, so they study instead. On one particular instance, they’re going over plant biology and discussing the food genetics performed at the Garrison.

“It’s interesting,” Shiro states, “what you can do with hydroponics. Those guys have some really wild stuff going on in the greenhouses.”

Keith looks up from his textbook, his fingers tracing a fern, “You know I’ve never actually been in them.”

Shiro often forgets that he’s ahead of Keith in his studies, and the visits to the greenhouses don’t begin until third year. In sixth year, though, your credentials change. When you’re the star of the academy, they change even more. You get special privileges, certain leeways. You get the ability to take an underclassman into typically off-limits places with you.

Keith sighs, “I’m really looking forward to checking it out.”

An idea takes root in Shiro’s mind.

 

                                                                                                                     +++              

 

One evening, Shiro suggests adding pool time to their training sessions. It’s partly out of selfish desire, and partly out of the fact that he just turned in his application for the Kerberos mission and he really wants to get some work in that resembles weightlessness as best he can. He only tells Keith about the second reason, and luckily, he suspects nothing and agrees.

“You’re getting in, though, you know that right? I don’t think there’s much more training you can do.”

“Thanks, Keith, but you never know.”

“No, I know. But if it’ll make you feel better, we’ll do it.”

The first time they meet at the pool, Keith is already in the water, shirtless and beautiful. Shiro’s entire body erupts in flames and he has to sit in the locker room for a few minutes to collect himself. When he comes out, towel draped over his shoulders, absently whistling a tune, he hears a small gasp and the water still. When he looks up, Keith is very deliberately looking at his wrist as if he over-rotated it, but his ears are bright red and _oh._ Shiro preens at the response.

It takes three meetings for them to stop blushing like children and really get to work. As they swim their laps, they make small talk, often covering aspects of the Kerberos mission. One night, they get to talking about the food in space and Shiro can’t help but lament.

“All of the peas, Keith. SO MANY PEAS, KEITH.”

“Yes, there will be a lot of peas,” Keith confirms.

“I mean, I know the food in the mess hall isn’t the greatest, but I know for a fact that I’d take that over a year of peas any day.”

“Mac n’ cheese day is pretty good, though.”

“Ehh, I prefer mashed potato day.”

Keith stops in the middle of a backstroke.

“There is no way on _Earth_ that you prefer mashed potatoes over mac n’ cheese, Shiro. That’s not possible.”

“Well it is, and I do.”

Keith levels him with the most terrifying glare he’s ever seen in his life and swims over. He stops three inches away from his face and slowly, deliberately states, “I have _never_ in my life felt so _betrayed_ by _anyone_.”

That’s almost an honor.

“Well, I’m sorry to have to do it to you, Keith. The potatoes are just better.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Keith lifts himself out of the water and dries off with an indecipherable look on his face that leaves Shiro fearing for his life.

It turns out that he has nothing to worry about though, because the next day things are totally fine. Keith sees him in the hallway and greets him like always, and that seems to be that.

Until Shiro returns to his room that night.

There, on his bed, right in the center, is a heaping bowl of macaroni and cheese. It’s not even mac n’ cheese day. This means war.

Unfortunately, a war like this tends to last a long time. First of all, mac n’ cheese day happens twice a month. Mashed potato day happens three times a month. That’s weeks of back and forth. Weeks of finding unique places in each other’s room to hide little bowls of food. Weeks of pissing off not only each other, but each other’s roommates.

Five weeks into their little battle, things reach a breaking point. Well, technically Shiro’s roommate reaches a breaking point.

Shiro is sitting at lunch one day, nibbling on his food and going over the notes from his last sim run when his name thunders through the mess hall.

“TAKASHI SHIROGANE.”

The mess hall goes deadly silent and Shiro’s body locks up, muscle memory from a time when his mother would yell his name that way whenever he was in Very Big Trouble. He looks up from his tray to see Matt stalking across the room with a small bowl clutched in his grip. Matt skids angrily to a stop and throws the bowl of what turns out to be dried out and very crusty mac n cheese directly into his fresh mashed potatoes.

“I don’t know what started this little game between you and Kogane, but if I find _one more bowl_ of macaroni in my desk, I’m going to _SKIN YOU BOTH ALIVE_.”

Shiro hasn’t seen this kind of fire in Matt’s eyes since someone played a prank on his little sister at her school and she came home crying. Shiro keeps his mouth shut and nods his assent. The noise in the room immediately picks back up, everyone’s curiosity sated.

Looks like Keith wins by default.

“And I swear to GOD,” Matt leans down dangerously close, hissing in Shiro’s face, “if you don’t get your head out of your ass and make a move on that kid soon, I’m going to do it FOR YOU!”

Fair enough.

 

+++

 

It takes Shiro another two weeks to actually get his head out of his ass and do something about this fledgling feeling that he knows is blossoming between the two of them. Keith isn’t quite as expressive as he is, but Shiro sees the way Keith looks at him when he thinks he isn’t looking. He’s caught the small signs in their interactions. And ever since Matt yelled at him over stray cafeteria food, he’s realized that other people see it too.

So now, he’s gathered all of his courage and put together his plan. He’s running out of time and he has to do it soon.

He snags Keith by the elbow in the hallway one Tuesday afternoon.

“Hey. I have a surprise for you.”

Keith doesn’t say anything, just furrows his eyebrows a little bit.

“Can you meet me at my room tonight instead of on the roof?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later!”

Shiro takes off before Keith can ask questions. He’s got a few things to do still, and he doesn’t think he can shoulder any suspicion.

That night finds Shiro perched on the edge of his bed, bouncing his knee nervously. A knock sounds from the door, and he launches from the mattress, grabbing his book bag and throwing the door open to come face-to-face with a very confused looking Keith.

He takes a deep breath in.

“You ready?”

Keith nods, and Shiro takes off down the hallway. When they reach their destination, Keith’s eyes light up in understanding and he glances over at Shiro just in time for him to smile and swipe his badge through the door lock.

“I remembered that you said you were looking forward to seeing these, and what I have to say is kind of important, so I thought this would be the perfect place to do it. And anyway, I think you deserve something special for putting up with me.”

Keith’s face washes over with excitement, and he takes off through the greenhouses that Shiro snuck them into, reading over each plant description and gingerly touching leaves and flowers. Shiro walks up behind him, placing his hand on his elbow to get his attention. When Keith looks back over his shoulder, smiling as wide and genuine as ever, Shiro relaxes. He can do this. This is no big deal. He’s got this. Okay.

“So, I brought some food and the chess board. I thought we could play?”

“You bring me to the one place I haven’t been allowed to go so far _and_ you set me up to destroy you again? God, Shiro, it’s like you’re my fairy godmother. Just out here, granting all my wishes.”

Shiro laughs and drags him over to the back of the room with its empty work benches. They set up the board and in ten minutes, Keith hands him his ass yet again.

“Okay, seriously,” Shiro growls, “you have to teach me how to play better than this.”

Keith looks at him contemplatively.

“One day I’ll share my secrets.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

“Speaking of secrets, why are we here? You said you had something to tell me?”

Okay. He can do this. Keith is understanding. Keith is his friend. No matter what, Keith is here for him.

“I’m going.”

Keith looks confused.

“To Kerberos.”

Keith looks less confused.

“They uh, they picked me, Keith.”

Keith looks vindicated.

“I TOLD YOU.”

Shiro feels immensely relieved.

“Yes, yes. You told me.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes. It’s not awkward, really, but something hangs in the air between them, and Shiro knows they can both feel it.

“So,” Keith finally breaks the ice, “why did you need to bring me here to tell me? Why didn’t you just tell me when you found out?”

“This. Um, this wasn’t the only reason we came here.”

“Oh, yeah? Because if I didn’t know any better, I would say this is a date.”

Shiro freezes up and everything he planned to say immediately flies out the proverbial window. Keith’s mouth drops open a little bit.

“Shiro. Is this a date?”

Keith is staring at him, arms crossed and waiting. Shiro instantly regrets every decision he ever made that led him to this place. The cold doom of panic slides over his whole body, and he can’t escape the tidal wave of words that come spilling out of his mouth.

“Was this presumptuous of me? Oh my god, this was presumptuous of me. It’s just. I just like you so much? And I kind of felt like you like me, too? And I don’t mean to ask you for something you aren’t willing to give, but I just. I had to try? Because if I don’t I know I’ll regret it and-“

Keith sets his hand on Shiro’s arm, effectively cutting him off.

“Grab your things, Shiro. We need to go.”

Shiro feels the bottom drop out of his soul.

 

+++

 

They’re walking back through the hallway toward the dormitories when Keith finally speaks up.

“Did I ever tell you why I joined the Garrison?”

Shiro shakes his head before he realizes that Keith can’t hear it.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I mean, I always wanted to fly, y’know, but I finally joined because of you.”

Shiro stops walking.

Keith turns around, continuing on, “I don’t know if you know this, I feel like you do, but you’re on practically every piece of advertising this place pumps out. Flyers, banners, signs, you name it. Anyway, I was tossing it around for a while and then I saw you on one of the banners and you seemed so…inspirational? Like, you knew why you were doing this, and that you were doing it for the right reasons, and that was something I wanted to be.”

Shiro knew Keith joined up because he wanted to do something bigger than he was on a path for, but he never suspected this. Keith grabs his hand and pulls him into a nearby electronics storage closet. He locks the door behind them and looks up into Shiro’s face, his expression open and honest and breathtaking.

“But then I met you in person. You were so much bigger in real life, you know? It’s weird to have to match a personality to the idea of something you’ve held for so long. So when you showed up in front of me, I kind of freaked out. I wasn’t sure what you’d be like, hell, I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever actually meet you, and then you turned out to be so much more than I could have thought? You push me to be so much more than I could have thought.”

“Keith, I-“

“Shut up, Shiro.”

Keith grabs him by the shirt and hauls him in, kissing him slow and careful. When they part, he rests his forehead on Shiro’s.

“You’re going into space in a week and you’re going to be so much more than anyone here on Earth. But when you get back, I’ll still be here for you. If you want me to be.”

Shiro’s not sure what the future holds. He’s really not sure what he’s doing. He’s taking a chance and hoping that he contributes something meaningful to the future, but ultimately, he doesn’t really know what’s going to happen. But he does know one thing.

“I want that. I want it very much.”

He tugs Keith forward again.

 

+++

 

The day Shiro takes off for Kerberos, he’s checking over his bags one last time and when he opens up his backpack, he finds a small, spiral-bound notebook placed right at the top. He cracks it open to find that it’s full of diagrams and strategies that Keith always uses to win at chess. On the ride over to the launch pad, he flips through it and when the truck pulls up to the hangar, he gets to the last page. Laughing to himself, he reads the messily scrawled confirmation of his deepest suspicion:

**_remember that time you beat me?_ **

**_you were right. i let you._ **

**_come back and do it for real next time._ **

**_-keith_ **

**Author's Note:**

> I MEAN, HE DOES COME BACK, RIGHT.
> 
> if you haven't seen it, [here's that romeo + juliet scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JoOpx6VwHk).
> 
> as always, you are most welcome to come yell at me on [tumblr](http://tootsonnewts.tumblr.com/) and on [twitter](https://twitter.com/these_mortals).


End file.
